Top Palmetto State lineman ready to get better feel for Clemson on visit

Pringle visited for the Clemson-Wake Forest game in the fall.

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Wed Feb 16 13:00:07 GMT-04:00 2022

National Signing Day for the 2024 recruiting class is a long way off, but Fort Dorchester (SC) Woodland’s Kam Pringle is already garnering attention from some of the top names in college football.

The 6-7, 305-pound 4-star offensive tackle already holds offers from Arizona State, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia Tech and is hearing from several other schools.

Clemson is staying in touch, as is Virginia, whose new head coach Tony Elliott spent lots of time in the Lowcountry during his time at Clemson.

“Right now, coaches that are showing interest are Virginia, Alabama, LSU, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Clemson, North Carolina State, and Kentucky. Of course, Clemson hasn't offered yet because of their policy,” Pringle told TigerNet earlier Tuesday evening.

Elliott, who began his tenure at Virginia in December, had already begun building a relationship with Pringle when he was at Clemson.

“Coach Elliott, I feel like he's very straightforward,” Pringle said of the former Clemson offensive coordinator. “He told me what he was trying to do early. Coming down and talking to my coaches, he was telling them, 'Hey, I'm here to build a relationship with Kam. I'm going to come here often to build a relationship with the coaches.' I talk to him on the phone. I didn't know he would be leaving when we were building a Clemson relationship. It's a good thing for him and a good thing for me that we have a relationship. With his move, Coach Elliott and I are still keeping in contact and whatnot.”

As for Clemson, the Tigers are in a good spot because of the team approach they take to recruiting.

“That's another coach (offensive line coach Thomas Austin) that I've been building a great relationship with,” he said. “Coach (Robbie) Caldwell is a trip. His message was clear at camp - everything he was teaching me – he was teaching me so I could do it with a Clemson jersey on. The only Clemson staff did a great job of making sure I was building a great relationship with the whole staff and not just Coach Caldwell or Coach Elliott. From the recruiting assistants to Coach (Dabo) Swinney, everybody knew who I was and I knew who they were. Coach Austin, even at camp Coach Caldwell was calling the drills and Coach Austin was running them.”

Pringle plans to return to Clemson on March 12 for its third junior day, and he already has big plans for his time.

“I've seen the campus, the facilities, and the stadium, so really it's the fun part of the recruiting life,” he said. “I'm going to take a photoshoot for the first time at Clemson. I'm going to sit down and have meetings with the position coaches and Coach Swinney. I want to hang around Coach Swinney a little bit more and really just get a good Clemson feel.”

While Pringle is forging his own path in recruiting – and hopes to graduate early and commit prior to his senior season – seeing guys like former offensive lineman John Simpson, South Carolina quarterback Dakereon Joyner and former Florida defensive lineman Carlos Dunlap find success gives him hope for the future.

“Definitely. A lot of people don't know that I'm originally from the Charleston area and not the St. George/Fort Dorchester area that I'm in now,” he said. “I grew up in the Summerville area and made my way to this area around seventh grade. It's a good feeling that you have some bigger names coming out of the Charleston area - John Simpson, Dakereon Joyner, Carlos Dunlap. I chose to take a different route and go to a different high school. I feel a comfort and reassurance that it's possible to make it from my area.”